~ A blog all about the trials and tribulations of Topps Bunt

Rating traders — my system

So I have noticed that the quality of trade proposals has gone down recently. It might be because I am trading more, or perhaps it is the influx of Android users with less to trade. Perhaps I just have a few better cards that draws in the seekers… in any case, I have found myself declining a lot more offers. And while I see a lot of people posting that they “always give 5 stars,” that’s not my personality and not how I am doing it.

Instead, I have created my own system which I use to rate the trades. I don’t accept anything that isn’t 4- or 5-stars. I also don’t accept all 5-star offers.

Here is the quick take on it:

5-stars — you either are making an offer I can’t resist or you made an offer I am only declining because I am irrationally attached to the card(s) you want in the deal. The best offers for me ask for dupes and offer cards I want.

4-stars — great offer, fair on both sides of the deal or creative deal. Maybe it addresses one of my needs or only asks for my dupes. Not a perfect deal but fair.

3-stars — not a bad deal but not thinking about my needs. Typically these are good offers on the surface but the offers include cards I already have or asks for a single card. Maybe someone would want this deal.

2-stars — bad offer — not fair for my side. Doesn’t look like they intended to rip me off – giving them the benefit of the doubt – but it’s not an offer anyone should accept.

1-star — they are trying to rip people off. Either they sent the same terrible offer to a bunch of people or they hoped I was a sucker. Whatever the reason, they sent a silly trade with no note of explanation and no logic.

Ignore — I added you to my Ignore list because you show a pattern of trying to rip off other traders. I look at the number of average stars they have and if it is under 3-stars, that is a pretty good indicator that they should be ignored.

Here are some examples:

5-stars — the first deal is a no-brainer. Even if they don’t release that many Chen cards, this is too many quality SPs to reject. The 2nd offer – I had both cards already but the Granderson is a little more rare. Not sure why he wanted the Miggy gold but this seemed fair on both ends.

4-stars — creative. I didn’t need the Aces award card and I only had one Puig, so I rejected the offer. But I thought about countering and I think we would have come to an agreement if I had a dupe Puig.

3-stars — technically a fair trade with that he is offering, but I have all of the cards he is offering and I only have one of the Gypsy Tanaka.

2-stars — Super Rare for a Rare. Don’t think this person was thinking about ripping me off, he just wanted the Puig card. But likely doesn’t have a good season of what cards are worth.

1-star: I have tons of examples but these are pretty self-explanatory. Veteran traders with decent trading scores just offering garbage.

Ignored Traders — low number of trades and trying to essentially steal cards. And then the one from Robert1919 — the infamous offer of asking for lots of sigs for next to nother.